Hale to samuel little



JQTHEoDoRE GURNEY, or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, Assrenoitforfonn- HALF TOSAMUELA LITTLE, oF SAME PLACE. I w 1 SALEIGH.

` .SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters PatentNo. 253,694, dated-February `14, 1882. A Appnatiu meeneemt 1,1381. (Nmcaei.) A

To all whom tt may concern:

y Beit known that I, J. THEoDoRE GURNEY, a citizen of the United States of America, residingat Boston, in the countyofSuft'olk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Sleighs; and vI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invent-ion, such as will enable others skilled in the art to 'which it appertains to make and use the same, `reference being had-to the accompan ying draw'- ings, and to letters or figures ot' reference marked-thereon, which form apart ot' this specication. Y A

Figure l is aside elevation of my improvement applied to what is commonly known as a HerdicJ Fig. 2 is a plan view of so much of-Fig. 1 as is necessary to illustrate my invention. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of a modified forni` ofA one end ofthe roller.v

Similar letters of relerence indicate like parts in all the figures.

The portion A of the runner .which rests upon the ground, the rave B,a'nd fender() may be of any usual or approved construction.

D D is a metallic bearing-piece, of which 1 the part D is substantially cylindrical in form,

ofa suitable length to receivel the end of an axle from whichthe wheel of the vehicle has been removed, and is expanded near its upper surfaceto form flanges or ears d, provided with bolt-holes, through which pass the bolts that are employed to bolt this bearing-piece to the rave B. The portions D areprovided with radial sockets adapted to receive the tenons of ordinary spokes E, to the lower ends of which the part A is secured by any usual or approved devices which are commonly employed for that purpose. vIn order to have the hub part D, the socket portions D', and the securingiiangesv d all formed in one piece, and in order at the same time to preserve the continuity of the rave B `from end to end, I so shape the part D D d that it shall all lie entirely below the rave, the latter (when the runner is in place on the vehicle) being Asituated above the axle and' hub. The bearing-pieces which have been heretofore used for receiving the hub, and also the runner-braces, have been formed in two or more parts bolted together,

and so arranged as to throw the axle above the rave. By casting this bearing part all in Vone pieceandsituatin g the socket portion D relatively to the part Das VI have, I am enabled to make a much neater, stronger, and

vcheaper support than those heretofore employed.

K is a draw-bar or roller connected ateach Ysocket part k is rigidly attached to the roller end.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a modification oflthis connection, which consists ot' a joint-bolt, n,

passing through the part Aoi the runner and into the end ofthe roller N, which is provided Ywith an elongated vertical slot, n, said slot being by preference tapering, as indicated, the inner end of the bolt being connected with the roller by a pin passing transversely through an eye in the end of the bolt by a nutfseated in a mortise or by other equivalent device.

In the drawings, I have shown a methodof mounting a vehicle upon two runners only and connecting euch runner with thevehiclebody by a single pivot. Thedraft devices are 'rigidly attachcd to the body part, and when in place in the harness of the horse operate vto hold the body firmly in place upon its' opposite trunnions or pivots. l have shown 'also' how, with a vehicle thus mounted upon a single'runner on each side and rigidly connected 1 toits draft devices, maybe combined atlexibl'edraft apparatus connected directly to the front ends of the rollers and to the draft port-ions of the harness.

H represents the body of a vehicle; J, the thlls or tongue, and I the thill-frame and seat, the latter connecting the thills or tongue rigidly to the body H. The body H is mounted upon the runners, there being onlyone runner upon each side hinged to the body of the carriage by the end of the axle in the socket D, these axle ends operating as trunnions or hinges. The points of the pivotal connection between the runners and the body are at the center, or preferably a little in the rear of the center, of the body H, and considerably in rear of the centers of the runners. 4 The rigid connection of the .thill-frame orto'n'gue-frame prevents too great a swinging of the body upon the runners in either direction, and the hinge of the runners when situated substantially as shown gives great ease and freedom of movement of the runners relatively to the body.

The runners are connected to the harness by the following devices:

L is a supplemental tongue attached to the roller or draw-bar, and carrying at its forward end a whiftletree, I. The front end of this supplemental tongue is suspended below the shafts of the vehicle, (shown in a loop or strap, M,)

which is secured to the transverse bar M', the

loop being of such size and placed in such position relative to the whiftletree t as to permit the tongue to slide backward and forward through the loop a short distance, for a purpose which will soon be explained; or, when preferred, the front end of the supplemental tongue may be suspended by means of a vi brating link or links. But I prefer the method shown, and when a pole is used for the pnrpose of attachingA two horses to the vehicle the supplemental tongue L may be hung` from the hounds or other .suitable and convenient part' of the running-gear. When preferred, however, an ordinary wagon-hub or such part thereof as is necessary may be employed instead of the metal bearing D D', and yet retain some ot' the features ot' my invention.

Although I have shownl inthe drawings and described above a special construction of vehicle, and have pointed out the advantages of that construction when mounted in the manner described, yet it will be seen that some of the features of myinventioncan be readilyapplied to vehicles of other forms.

While I prefer to connect the roller Kto the runners at about the point indicated, yet it is apparent that it might be attached at some point above or below, or it might be attached to the rave, or at thejunction of the rave and the runner, without departing from the spirit of my invention; and instead of connecting these parts by means of bolts or pins fastened through the runners, such bolts or pins might be connected with the runners by meansof eyes or clips. Hence I do not wish to be limited to the precise construction shown.

What I claim is- 1. The combination of the body H, the thills J, and thill-frame, which are rigidly attached to said body, the runners connected to the body by a single pivot situated behind the centers ot' the runners, and devices, substantially as described, which connect the front ends of the runners together and to the thillframe.

2. The combination ofthe runners, the tongue L, hinged to the runners and adapted to have the draft applied thereto, the body H, connected to the runners by a single pivot on each side, the thills J, and the thill-fraine, arranged, substantially as described, to prevent thebody from swinging forward when the thills are connected to the harness.

3. The combination of the body I-I, thethills J, connected to the body independently of the runners, the supplemental. tongue L, and whifletree l, connected to the shaft-frame loosely,

whereby said tongue and whiffletree can slide p forward and back independently ot the thills,

substantially as set forth.

et. The combination of 'tue body H, the runners mounted upon pivots or trunnions, whereby they can rock independently of the'body, the thills and thillframe connected with the body independently of the runners, the drawbar K, connected at its ends with the runners by universal joints, and the supplemental tongue L, and whifetree Z, supported loosely upon the thills and tliiIlframe, as and for the purposes set forth.

5. The herein-described metallic connecting and supporting piece for a hub-runner, consist.- ing of the tlangesd at theupper side,t`ne cylindrical bearing-piece D below said flanges, and the sockets DD, all castin one piece ot' metal.

6. The. combina-tion, with the spokes or braces E E, the runner A, and the rave B, of the inetallic connecting and supporting part D Dd, situated at the upper end of said braces or spokes E and arranged to support the raveB above the axle, and the bar D therefor, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof' I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

J. THEODORE GURNEY.

Witnesses:

J oHN BROOKS, HENRY H. PAGE. 

